


breathe her in, give me life

by blommowitch



Category: The Strange Case of Starship Iris (Podcast)
Genre: Chromatic Character, F/F, female character of colour, you know the trope 'kiss in life or death situation?' this is that trope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-07 10:55:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14669640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blommowitch/pseuds/blommowitch
Summary: God, this was just not how Violet wanted her life to end.“Arkady,” she hisses through clenched teeth, “I didn’t live through a damned interstellar war with aliens just to die because a couple of government agents like their job a bit too much!” Arkady looks over from where she’s crouched on the floor. “Well, Liu, being shot by a white guy with a gun isn’t how I want to go out either, so do you have any suggestions?”





	breathe her in, give me life

**Author's Note:**

> this was inspired by me talking about tscosi with anthem and going: "imagine: a near death scenario and violet's just like "I'll regret this if I don't kiss her right now" and arkady would just be so stunned that she wouldn't even be able to react and then throw herself into danger"
> 
> also inspired by marina's amazing fanart of arkady which u can find HERE: https://marina-does-things.tumblr.com/post/173225717206/
> 
> title from hayley kiyoko's song "wanna be missed", bc while the song itself doesn't fit the fic, this lyric does and I knew I had to have a hayley kiyoko lyric for my asian sapphics

God, this was just _not_ how Violet wanted her life to end.

“Arkady,” she hisses through clenched teeth, “I didn’t live through a damned interstellar war with aliens just to die because a couple of government agents like their job a bit too much!” Arkady looks over from where she’s crouched on the floor. “Well, Liu, being shot by a white guy with a gun isn’t how I want to go out either, so do you have any suggestions?” Another gunshot rings out, and they both instinctively duck, even though they’re safely behind a corner and the gunfire just whizzes past them. Violet risks peeking out behind the corner, but the situation is as it was before she looked: two IGR agents in the hallway, the _Rumour_ straight ahead of them in the hangar. It’s only thanks to Arkady’s well placed shots that the agents haven’t just aimed for the ship itself.

“You want suggestions? How about this one: we let Krejjh maneuver the ship so it gives us some cover, we make a run for it, and get off this planet as soon as possible!” she urges. Arkady is shaking her head before Violet has even finished speaking.

“Liu, you know the new fuel tanks, right? The ones that we installed today? It’ll be another hour at least before Tripathi can make the shields function normally - one gunshot hits the fuel tanks, the fuel will come gushing out, and all we’ll be able to do is ask the IGR nicely if they’ll let us refuel and patch the tanks with duct tape before they kill us.” The false bravado that always infuses Arkady’s voice seems to be faltering, and even the image of Arkady asking an IGR agent anything _nicely_ isn’t enough to make Violet smile. Her knees are hurting from crouching on the cement, but more importantly, her brain is doing this weird thing where it’s conjuring images of her own dead body, and Arkady’s dead body, and Violet thinks she might know why her heart aches at that last picture, but there really isn’t time for this, and _oh god_ was that another gunshot, did it seem closer this time?

“Violet, snap out of it!” Arkady’s voice breaks through the fog, and Violet recovers just in time to hear her yell into her comm: “Krejjh, Brian, Captain - any suggestions?”

“Dude, you just said it. The ship is way too fragile to be involved in any kind of fight, and our weapons haven’t powered up enough to even land a single shot!” Brian shouts back, and Violet feels kind of relieved that at least someone else is freaking out as well.

“Crewman Jeeter is right, First Mate Patel. Despite my many, _many_ excellent qualities, I can’t make our ship bulletproof,” Krejjh adds. If Violet wasn’t who she was, she’d be swearing right about now. Arkady, however, has no such qualms, and swears so profusely that Violet just knows that somewhere out there, between ten and fifteen aunties have either fainted in shock or raised their slippers.

“Captain, how is it going on the shield?” Arkady spits out, peeking around the corner and sending a bullet flying.

“Arkady, you _know_ these shields will take me at least an hour!” Sana’s voice is muffled, and Violet suspects that she’s got a wrench or something between her teeth. Arkady seems to collect herself, sit down, straighten her legs out and lean against the wall and breathe deeply (and this is completely the wrong moment, but Arkady is wearing a tank top and it’s showing off that tattoo Violet loves so much, and - _Violet, this is a life or death situation. Your major crush on the girl who could literally bench-press you and has more issues than Vogue isn’t helping._ ) Her inner voice of reason has a point, and it’s enough to break her out of her little stupor and see a smile beginning to form on Arkady’s face.

“I have a plan,” she says, and her shoulders relax. “Violet, you run for it. While you do that, I’ll incapacitate the IGR agents and follow as soon as I can.” A cacophony of voices react immediately.

“Dude, that is the stupidest plan I’ve ever heard, and I remember when Krejjh thought it would be a good idea to cook with C4!” Brian yells.

“Although I still stand by my idea, my fiancé is right,” Krejjh adds, “and you’re gonna just what? Take on two IGR agents, by yourself, with almost no ammo left?”

Arkady smiles. “I don’t need the ammo.”

Violet’s heart and brain seem to be working in tandem - they’re both screaming, but for once, it’s for the same reason. “Captain, you _can’t_ let Arkady do this! She’ll die!” Her voice feels hoarse. She expects Sana to react as Violet herself does, to order Arkady to figure out another plan, but Captain Tripathi's voice is soft when she asks: “Can you do it, First Mate Patel?” Brian, Krejjh and Violet are all stunned into silence, but Arkady replies, with only the slightest hint of doubt that probably only Violet picks up on: “I’m positive, Captain. Remember the first riot? If I can fight my way through that, I can do anything.” Violet can hear Sana sighing through the comm. “You have my permission. But remember: Violet is a civilian and not used to fighting. Make sure she’s safe, and then you come home safe too. We’re only a few hundred meters away.” The permission, and the sound of her captain’s voice, seems to calm Arkady even more. “Understood, captain.” With their captain’s order, both Brian and Krejjh seem to have lapsed into silence, but then Brian says: “Alright then, Arkady. We’ll see you soon. Brian Jeeter out.”

Again, Violet’s heart is doing some very strange thumping. “So what, you’re going to attack these two goons by yourself? While I run away? That’s not happening. I spent years running from the truth because I was too afraid to confront it - I’m not leaving you behind!” Her voice rises, and she can feel herself getting hysterical, and god, she _hates_ having anxiety and feeling like she’s crazy all of the time, but this time she’s definitely not - the person who isn’t behaving rationally here is Arkady. Arkady, who thinks that she’s going to throw herself into mortal danger so that Violet can get away.

“Violet, you have to. You can’t fight, and we can’t just run across the hangar and hope the IGR doesn’t shoot us. I’ve beaten worse odds than this. You’ll be fine, and I’ll be fine.” And it’s the way that Violet literally can’t think her way out of this or fault this logic, and Arkady’s soft smile, and how Arkady’s tank top hugs her form, but more importantly, the look in her brown eyes and the way her hand almost reaches out for Violet, that does it. Violet is not running through gunfire and letting someone else save her life (again) without doing this. She sits down in Arkady’s lap, reaches out and puts her hand on Arkady’s neck, and threads her hand through her hair, tangling her fingers in the violet (hah) ends. Before she can take in the way Arkady’s breath stutters, she’s pressed their lips together.

God, Arkady’s lips are so _soft,_ and she smells of lavender, and one of Arkady’s hands has landed on Violet’s waist and is stroking a small section of exposed skin, and the other is clutching her right thigh, so Violet scoots closer just a bit, so that their stomachs are touching, and Arkady makes such a small, surprised noise that Violet can’t help but press in a bit further, because if Arkady dies now, Violet will make damn sure it’s because she’s just experienced the best kiss of her life, and not because of a couple of white guys with guns. To make sure that no one has accidentally forgotten their existence, the IGR agents in question fire a few shots that just grazes the wall where Violet is kissing (well, making out with) Arkady. The gunshots make them jump back slightly.

Arkady looks stunned, and that is, if Violet is being honest, a _great_ look on her, one she’d love to see more often. She’s suspected for a while that Arkady might be up for something like this, and the way Arkady has just raised her fingers to her own lips is evidence for her theory. Still, it never hurts to check:

“Was that… okay?” And Arkady’s mouth splits into the widest grin Violet Liu has ever seen, on anyone, in her entire life, and she can’t help but smile back as Arkady says: “A little more than just ‘okay’, Liu.” Another few gunshots ring out, and Violet smiles and says: “If we get out of this alive, I can promise you, there’s more where that came from. Maybe even over a drink?” And as she scoots back, stands up, gives Arkady a hand to stand up, and prepares to leg it to the ship, Arkady says: “Now that’s something to live for.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> comments make this lesbian want to keep writing


End file.
